Sydney-based Propertylink Group has begun buying shares of the AUD675.5m (€415m) Centuria Industrial REIT (CIP).
JP Morgan Securities, acting as Propertylink’s bookrunner, said Propertylink initially plans to buy up to 5% of CIP securities but could decide within the next 30 days to proceed to buy all of CIP’s 248m shares on issue.
The broker said Propertylink was offering a cash price of AUD2.99 per CIP unit, representing a 9.9% premium to the last closing price of AUD2.72 cents.
CIP owns a portfolio of 37 industrial assets, valued at AUD1bn, in key metropolitan areas around Australia.
JP Morgan said Propertylink, whose largest shareholder is the Warburg-Pincus-backed logistics specialist ESR, was considering a number of alternatives.
It may seek to enter into discussion with CIP’s responsible entity Centuria Capital Group to take over the listed vehicle.
Alternatively, it may hold a strategic stake in CIP with a view to replacing its current responsible entity, according to JP Morgan.
Centuria Capital Group itself holds a 10% stake in Propertylink, while CIP sold a 7.7% interest in Propertylink in August.
Both Centuria and CIP bought Propertylink securities in an aborted attempt to take over Propertylink last year.
ESR was earlier reported to have been in discussions with Centuria Capital Group to take over Propertylink, but those talks are believed to have stalled.
Propertylink’s CEO, Stuart Dawes, told IPE Real Assets last month that the company had formed a partnership with an “existing” capital partner to invest AUD200m in urban industrial renewal opportunities.
Propertylink’s capital partners currently include Goldman Sachs, Partners Group, The Townsend Group, Grosvenor, Fosun and Norincukin Bank.
